by Cat Adams
“I like it. Give them a try. We can put them in containment then and keep them from escaping until a priest is available.”
All of a sudden a hum rose into the air. It was an airy, light sound, very much like the children’s choir I’d heard on the call with Mr. Murphy. It caught everyone’s attention and we all turned as one. A blue light rose into the sky like a beacon until it dwarfed the fountain of lava that was spewing from the earth. The air felt immediately cooler and I could finally take a deep breath that didn’t scald my lungs. Everybody waited anxiously as the blue shield began to round over at the top. Some demons can fly, so it can’t just go straight up. It has to close and lock.
“C’mon, guys,” I willed the two mages I knew and the hundreds I didn’t to give it everything they had. Slowly the shield began to close. A few imps threw themselves against the barrier nearby and bounced off before melting. Sweet. Someone must have added holy words to the spell to beef it up.
Sound faded and everybody took a collective breath. Lights flashed silently and the unearthly howls became quieter and farther away until, with a flash of light that was nearly blinding, the prison was contained inside the barrier.
A chorus of cheers rose into the air, but I heard two screams of pain. A female officer a few feet away started swearing and dropped to the ground to thrash. Everybody stepped back and a hundred guns were drawn from holsters. I didn’t think twice. I grabbed one of the TBB charms and threw it hard. It hit her and exploded and she froze as solidly as if I’d thrown liquid nitrogen. Rizzoli held out his hand and I put two of the disks into it. He sprinted toward where the other screaming was coming from, and a moment later it stopped. I hadn’t expected that the demons would start screaming when cut off from their own kind. Handy knowledge.
“Where’d you get those? How much are they?” The cop was young and eager and was staring at his paralyzed former colleague with unabashed admiration.
“Find a mage named John Creede. He’s here, somewhere. He’ll hook you up.” I turned my head once he left and called, “Hey, Alex! C’mere.”
She looked at me, put up a hand to stop the person who was speaking to her, and walked over. “What’s up?”
“You might check with the priests to see if it’s normal for a demon to scream and thrash when cut off from the rest of the pack. It might be an easy way to at least track down the escapees who were possessed.”
She stuck out her bottom lip as she thought. “Might be a pain in the butt, but I can certainly call the nine-one-one dispatcher in the area to see if anyone’s called in about someone with symptoms like that. And maybe the hospitals.” She paused, then nodded. “Y’know, that might work.” She turned abruptly, muttering to herself, and went back to her team and started to talk rapidly.
I grabbed two cops and had them carry the frozen, possessed cop while we looked for a priest. Matty was the first one I came across, and I explained the situation and how the officer came to be bound. He was impressed with the charm as well and grabbed his bag. “I don’t know whether I can release the demon from a bound body. I’ve never tried. It would be safer if we could. Every seminary in the world would buy these things. But I’m afraid that the demon will be trapped and frozen just like the body.”
“Will it hurt her to try it?” She looked like a nice person, and more than one of the cops had looked really stricken when they’d had to pull their weapon on her.
Matty pulled his cloth from inside the bag and put on a larger silver cross. “Shouldn’t. But we need to be prepared in case it does. Who did the casting on this? Bruno’s tried for years but has never perfected one.” He looked up at me and okay, I flinched first and turned my gaze to the ground. He let out a sigh. “Well, you’d better go get him. I might need him to take off the binding during the ritual and put up a fast circle.” I started to walk away, then heard him clear his throat and call my name. “Celia!” I looked back; he was pointing in the other direction. “I’d suggest you go the other way. You’ll run into my brother first if you take that route.”
I took his suggestion and turned around. Just call me chicken girl. A week from now, I wouldn’t care. But there was still a little bit of glow snuggling in my stomach and I just didn’t want to have to explain it. I walked all the way around the blue perimeter, which took a while because the prison is actually damned big. But it gave me a chance to see the damage—and the rift—firsthand. I don’t know how to describe what it looked like. It was an area of blackened sky that wasn’t completely black. There were stars that were too low in the sky and a rainbow of shifting colors, like the aurora borealis. It looked the same from all directions, which was weird. Maybe a physicist could explain it, but I couldn’t. I was concentrating on it so much I nearly tripped over Creede. He was sitting on the sand sucking down a bottle of water. He looked utterly exhausted. “Wow. You look rough.”
He looked up and could barely smile. The light in his eyes was completely out—they were just regular hazel. If I didn’t know him and someone had told me he was a mage, I wouldn’t have believed them. “Thanks. I feel worse.” Another long pull from the water bottle emptied it. I had something that would help a little; I keep a few in my vest for just such emergencies. I handed him a Hershey bar. He smiled for real as he took the candy bar from me. “Water and chocolate. The dinner of champions.” He managed a chuckle.
I didn’t tell him I’d been packing nutrition shakes earlier; I’d finished the last one off not long ago. I figured this wasn’t a good time or place to suddenly start hunting for necks if I got too hungry.
I gave his calf a little kick. “Well, c’mon then, champion. I need you to take off one of the bindings. They worked great, but Matty doesn’t know if he can do the exorcism with the person bound.”
Creede collapsed onto his back, arms sprawled, and chewed. When he finally swallowed, he spoke: “Crap. I honestly don’t know if I’ve got it in me, Ceil. Really. I’m toast.” It was the first time he’d called me anything other than Celia or Graves and it came out sounding like “seal” rather than “cell.”
“Well, can anyone remove it, or just you? We’ve got a couple of people bound and ready to get unpossessed.”
Creede closed his eyes and I honestly thought he’d fallen asleep. But after long moments while I just stared at his slowly breathing body, he opened his eyes and pushed himself to a sitting position. “Okay. I guess I’m stuck. I think I have to be the one to release the bindings. I’m so used to doing my own workings that adding in the language for another mage to undo it didn’t occur to me.”
I offered him a hand up and he took it. He was as close to deadweight as I’ve ever seen and it took him a couple of tries to get his balance. Guess he wasn’t faking. “You really put a lot of yourself into this barrier, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. More than I should have. But we had a hard time closing it.” I slowed my gait to stay even with him, because he was nearly shuffling. There wasn’t any way he was going to make it around the long way. We’d have to go by Bruno.
I needed to be a big girl about this. It wasn’t like I’d slept with John—not really. I hadn’t dated him, and anyway, Bruno’s the one who called it off with me, not the other way around.
But we didn’t see Bruno until we reached Matty. My ex was muttering words and the frozen cop was lifting into the air and dropping back down in the center of a casting circle, stiff as ever. John stepped forward and pushed Bruno slightly to the side. “Here. Let me. You get the circle ready.” John’s hands made complex motions in the air with the grace of a pianist or maybe a painter. As he muttered words, a small glow finally came back into his eyes.
Bruno was likewise moving his hands and talking, but he was saying different words and the motions of his hands were tightly controlled and had military precision. Elegant in their own way. The moment the cop’s body relaxed, she stood and started to scream. Bruno’s circle sprang up around her and she was trapped. Matty started speaking in Latin and the woman went silent.
John took a deep breath and clapped a hand on Bruno’s arm. My former fiancé responded by glaring, but Creede didn’t seem to notice. “Guess we’d better finish up the other three so we can go home and get some rest. I’m sure we’ll be needed here again tomorrow to recharge the barrier.” He looked at me in an offhand way, but what he said next was clearly calculated for maximum effect on everyone in earshot. It sort of pissed me off. Yet Bruno sort of deserved it, too. “Ceil, go ahead and take the car back to Napa. I’ll find a motel down here for a couple of days. You’ve still got the keys, right?”
I nodded, but I wasn’t happy. There wasn’t a win to this situation, and the best solution was probably to do just what he suggested. But I didn’t want to leave Bruno with the wrong impression. “Okay. I’ll take the car back to the spa, since that’s where my clothes and my friends are. You can pick it up there. I’m sure the girls are wondering what’s happened to me.”
My response lightened Bruno’s mood a little and darkened Creede’s.
The perfect compromise leaves everyone unhappy.
Including me.
16
“You have got to be kidding!” My story had left both Emma and Dawna with open mouths; Dawna was the first to recover enough to speak.
My finger made a little x over my heart. “Hand to God.”
It was three in the morning and my adrenaline rush was finally wearing off. Crises always made me sick to my stomach, and about the only thing that had ever fixed it was orange sherbet. Luckily, the spa had some and didn’t mind providing it at such an early hour. Even better, it tasted just like I remembered from childhood, and since I’d always let it melt in my mouth before swallowing, it was one more treat I could still enjoy. Yay.
I took another spoonful and let out a sigh as the bright orange flavor exploded in my mouth.
“So,” Emma finally asked, “was it good? I mean … better than Bruno?”
I shook my head. When the last bit of liquid had vanished down my throat, I responded: “Apples and oranges. It was pure magic, not just regular sex.”
They accepted the answer grudgingly. “What about the kiss?” Dawna asked. “C’mon, dish.”
Ooh. That was a tough one. “I’ll have to make it a tie. Bruno for intensity, Creede for technique. The man is a really good kisser. And he has a nice car.” There were knowing grins all around at that.
I finally returned to the topic I’d started with when I’d woken them both up from a sound sleep two hours before. “So now I’ve got to find someone who knows about dimensional rifts. That’s your area, Emma. Whatcha got?”
She waved her hands in front of her. “Nope. Not me. Ask about ordinary multiple dimensions and I’m your girl. But this is metaphysical stuff. You’ll find the best records in religious texts. But for history…” She leaned back into the stack of pillows she’d piled on the couch. “Your best bet would be Aaron Sloan. He’s one of the top experts in demonology.”
That perked me right up. “Is he the same Dr. Sloan your father knows?” When she nodded, I let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve met him. He does know his stuff and he’s been looking into the death curse Stefania put on me.”
One of the best things about voice mail was it didn’t care what time it was. I left a long message and gave my cell phone number for him to call on Monday.
The girls left as I was checking my own voice mail. Dawna had been right. There were a lot of calls from people trying to hire me. It should have made me happy, but I was too tired to care. The morning was going to come far too soon, and I still had to make a list of things I had to do. I was yawning as I powered up my laptop.
It was the last thing I remembered doing.
* * *
I woke to a knock on my door and lifted my face from where it was resting on the laptop keys. Yuck! I’d drooled into the keyboard. God, I hoped it wasn’t ruined. “Who is it?”
“Dawna. Are you packed yet? Weren’t you supposed to be back in time to take your gran to church?”
My head was pounding like I was just coming off a three-day drunk, and there was a weird metallic taste in my mouth. I stumbled to my feet and caught sight of myself in the mirror above the dresser: pasty green-white skin, bloodshot eyes with dark bruising underneath, and a lovely checkerboard pattern of dents across my cheek. Terrific. I picked up my cell phone to see how many messages Gran had left, but the battery was completely dead.
I could already see this was going to be a very special morning. I decided I didn’t want anyone to see me until I looked more … human. I went to the door and looked through the peephole at Dawna’s annoyingly smiling face. I raised my voice enough to be heard through the door: “Could you call her? Please? Ask if she can take the bus. Otherwise, I can take her to evening services. I literally woke up when you knocked. I really need a shower before I can be semicoherent.”
“Sure. Happy to.” There was an edge to her voice that said she wasn’t happy at all, but she’d do it because she was my friend.
The shower was heating and I was dumping out my whole makeup kit in a search for the concealer when I heard another knock. Yea dogs, what now?
I wrapped a fluffy white robe around me and went to the door. “Yes?”
“Aren’t you moving yet, girlfriend? Am I just now hearing your shower running?” My brow furrowed, because it was Dawna. Again.
“Did you call Gran yet?”
“Why would I call your gran? Is something wrong?”
A buzzing started in my ears and my heart started pumping fast. “Did you knock on my door a few minutes ago and tell me to hurry up?”
“Hell, no. I’ve been downstairs with Emma, getting you something for breakfast.” I looked out the peephole and saw her holding up a bottle of milk and a nutrition shake. “All they had was banana, but drink it anyway. You had a long night.”
“Hang on just a second.” I raced across the room and rummaged through my bags. When I walked back to the door, I used one hand to unlatch the security hook, flip the lock, and turn the knob. The other hand held a One Shot water pistol. “C’mon in.”
She walked through the door and I fired. The water hit her right in the face and she sputtered and spit. “What is wrong with you, woman?”
My voice came out very quiet but very fast. “Dawna, you were just here—like two minutes ago. You told me we needed to go pick up Gran for church.”
She frowned. “Was not.”
“Yeah, you were.” I nodded and raced to the nightstand. Screw the phone charges. I dialed Gran’s number.
She answered on the first ring: “Hello?”
“Gran, this is Celia. Don’t say a word. Did Dawna just call you?”
I held out the phone so the real Dawna could hear the response: “Yes, she did. You want me to take the bus to service this morning because you’re running late. And I’d rather do that than wait until the evening service. I just don’t like the choir selections at night. They’re too … modern.”
Dawna’s mouth opened in shock and she raised a hand to cover her gasp as she realized the implications.
“Gran, get out of the house. Now. Go to the main office, call a cab, and go straight to church. You’re in danger.”
“Celia?” Her voice got very soft and worried. “What’s wrong?”
“Dawna’s standing right here with me and she didn’t make that call. A demon is impersonating her … it probably escaped from the prison last night. Get to holy ground and stay there until I come for you. Okay? Promise me!”
Thankfully, my grandmother’s nothing if not a pragmatist. She was there when Lilith tried to destroy Mom and when Reverend Al was killed by Eirene’s minion. “There’s a Catholic church right across the street. It’s not my church, but I can walk there faster than a cab can get here.”
“Good. Take your friends with you, in case the demon tries to coerce you.”
“Pili’s awake. She was going to go to services with me. We’ll get Ahn, too. I’ll hang up now. You stay
safe, baby. Don’t worry about me. It’ll distract you.”
Another knock sounded and Dawna rushed the few feet to the door. She peered through the peephole and mouthed, Emma.
I tossed her my last One Shot. Dawna opened the door slowly, and when Emma walked in Dawna squirted her in the face.
The thing that looked like Emma screamed and lashed out at Dawna, who ducked and did a diving roll while the demon was blinded. I hung up the phone and lunged for my weapons. The handgun was closest and was loaded with silver. I fired two shots at the entity’s chest and it exploded into a million pieces. Wow. Never seen that before.
Viscous red gunk splattered across the walls and floor and even started dripping down from the ceiling. My credit card company was not going to be happy with me.
While Dawna curled into a near-fetal ball on the couch, I calmly sat down on the bed and picked up the phone again. I pressed zero twice and a chirpy voice answered, “Front desk.”
“Hi. This is room eight-oh-nine. We need … oh, we need lots of things. Probably a detective and a priest to start with, and then Housekeeping will need a whole bunch of towels.”
There’s a point at which even the best spa is taxed to the limit. “Um … I’ll see what I can do.”
“Where’s Emma?” Dawna’s voice was soft and painted with fear.
“Did you go to her room or did she come to yours?”
Dawna’s face brightened a little. “She came to mine. Do you think…?”
It was worth a try. I dialed room-to-room and a sleepy voice sounded on the other end of extension eight fourteen. “ ’Lo?”
My whole body collapsed with relief. I felt almost numb. “Em? Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay!”
Her voice sounded muffled, like it was under a pillow. “God, keep it down. I’m fine. I was asleep. My head is killing me from all that wine.”
